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"You," he said, and Austin nodded.
"The one and only. I never would have expected that I would find you here. Never dreamed that it would be even a remote possibility," he said, starting to walk up to Hayden, who stood from where he was lying and returned his gaze, anger burning through his body. Austin stopped, then stared at him.
"Hey…are you okay? Don't tell me you're still sore over what happened that day, are you? It was just a brawl between men. We have had many of those when we were boys. Why don't we just shake and let that one pass, eh?" He asked with a smile on his face.
Hayden didn't know what infuriated him more. The memory of what was done to him or the fact that Austin seemed so flippant about it.
"Why are you this way? Granted, I stole your father's horse and stuff like that, but you caught me, didn't you? Why are you still sore about it?" He asked with his arms spread wide open as though he was waiting for a hug.
Hayden inhaled deeply, fighting to quell the rage that was building from deep within his fire. He looked at Lenanee, who shook her head subtly. Austin's eyes landed on her, and he beamed even wider.
"If it isn't my forest friend? How are you? I see that you and he are a thing now. That is truly wonderful. He is a good man, and he will treat you splendidly if I do say so myself and…
"What are you doing?" Hayden asked him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Hayden? I'm reacquainting myself with friends that I have had a falling out with," he said.
"You call that a falling out? That is what it was to you? An old friend's quarrel? You hurt me and my family, and you think that it can just be talked away, waved away like it doesn't matter?" He asked Austin, who stared at him hard for a while, then he tilted his head to the side.
"You're still one self-righteous bastard, you know that, right? I mean, just look at yourself. What did you think this was? You'd see me and remind me of my sins to you and your family, and I would beg you? Is that what you think? Is that how you imagined this would play out? If so, then you would be gravely disappointed," he said, coming close to Hayden with a small smile on his face, but the severity in his eyes could not be mistaken.
"What are you doing here, Austin?" Hayden asked through gritted teeth, and the man shrugged.
"Unlike you, I am not here for pleasure. There is actually some order to this Chaos. Have you heard of the race that's coming up? It's a horse race and will last three consecutive days through the Sweetwater wilderness. Do you know what that means? Well, the thing is that I have wanted to test my strength and will against the best in the world. That's why I'm here. You can drink and lie under the sun to your heart's content. After all, that is one thing that your pampered self is most good at, living off the wealth and fame of your father," Austin said and stepped back from him, then turned and started walking into the building, whistling low in his throat.
Hayden watched Austin leave, then stood, and started walking to his hotel room. He didn't believe that he could be so angry, his body trembled, and his head ached, his eyes blurred, and he clenched his fist so hard that he felt his palms start to bleed. He walked into the room and sat down, then he stared at the blood on his palm, the thick calluses there that Austin had belittled by calling him pampered.
"Hayden?" Lee asked, standing at the door. He looked at her and then gritted his teeth.
"Did you see the way he spoke? The way he casually insulted me? He sees me as nothing. He disrespects me and calls me pampered," he said.
"It doesn't matter how he sees you. You don't see him worrying about the way you see him. He doesn't care, and I don't think that you should care as well. I don't think that should be a part of your worries. I know that his words hurt you, but that should be the end of it. I think it's time that you just learn to ignorehim. You're an amazing, kind and strong man. He doesn't have to acknowledge that to make it true," she said.
Hayden looked at her soft face, at the earnestness with which she spoke, and he knew that she would not support the idea that was going on in his mind. He didn't even know why he couldn't let it go, why he couldn't just drop the matter. It weighed heavily on him and made his thoughts blur. He didn't expect her to understand, but this felt like something he had to do, something he needed to do. He nodded at her, the last thing he needed her to do was to worry about him or try and stop him.
"I will be fine," he said as she took his head in a hug, and he sighed deeply, not even this could calm him.
"You know him?" Nicole asked Austin as he walked to the stables. He turned to look at that tall, slender woman with intense eyes currently filled with curiosity.
"Is the horse prepared? You know the requirements, yes." He asked her, and she tilted her head to the side.
"Yeah, I made sure I had a specialist look over them, but then again, you will be there tomorrow, and you will tell us what you think?" She asked. Austin nodded slowly.
"You still haven't answered my question," she said.
"The ranch I used to work for before and the one I stole from, that landed me in trouble! His father owns the ranch, and Hayden there was one of the boys I grew up with. The recent events led to a misunderstanding that he obviously hasn't gotten over, and that…that is why you saw what you did there today, but Hayden…he is a sweet boy, and I don't think he will bearthat grudge for a long time. I am frankly surprised that he bore it until this time," he said.
"There is something strange about you," Nicole said.
"Besides the fact that I am the size of two men squeezed together in one body?" He asked.
"Yeah, besides that, and every obvious fact. You either don't lie or you don't leave tells, maybe you're that good at it, or you're just deceptively honest," she said to him.
"I think the issue with you is that you're not trusting enough. You shouldn't be looking through everything I say, trying to sift through the words in that manner. That isn't the way to go. I think you should be more trusting, you and your uncle both. I think both of you would benefit from that, and it would leave me with fewer things to explain.
"How good a rider is he?" She asked, and Austin tilted his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
